Chess of the living dead

ABSTRACT

A method of playing a modified game of chess where human pieces and zombie pieces are moved, removed or replaced according to specified rules of play.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PROVISIONAL APPLICATION

The present application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/700,465, filed on Sep. 13, 2012, entitled “CHESS OF THE LIVING DEAD,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments generally relate to the game of chess and, in particular, the present invention provides a new variation on the classic game of chess. Embodiments further relate to a system and method of playing a modified chess game in person and online.

BACKGROUND

Traditional chess is a game, usually for two players, involving a checkered board and specially designed playing pieces. The chessboard consists of 64 squares, alternately colored light and dark, arranged in eight vertical rows and eight horizontal rows. Each opponent has sixteen pieces or “men”, one set light in color for the white side, and one set dark in color for the black side. The first row of each player's side of the board is occupied by pieces distinguished by their shape into five kinds: King, Queen, Rook, Bishop, and Knight. The men in front of these pieces, positioned in the second row, are called pawns. Each player moves in accordance with fixed restrictions on the movement of each type of piece as described in Articles I-III of the Laws of Chess as adopted at the 79th Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) Congress at Dresden (Germany), November 2008, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The object is to force the opponent's principal piece, the King, into a position where it cannot escape capture (checkmate).

Variations of the classic game have been proposed, but none has yet proven to be as popular as the classic game. The newest generation of game players has grown up in the internet and computer age where a more traditional theme or genre of characters is less interesting than the present day interests in a darker genre of character, such as Zombies. A new method and system for playing a modified chess game that retains some features of the classic game but changes the complexity, dynamics and strategy is needed to present new challenges to and capture the interest of the newest generation of chess players of all abilities.

SUMMARY

The following summary is provided to facilitate an understanding of some of the innovative features unique to the disclosed embodiment and is not intended to be a full description. A full appreciation of the various aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein can be gained by taking the entire specification, claims, drawings, and abstract as a whole.

It is, therefore, one aspect of the disclosed embodiments to provide for a modified game of chess configured to be played on a traditional chessboard and having rules of play defined as follows: (a) human Pawns are allowed to be moved one square along a file, unless the square is occupied by another playing piece, with the exception of the first move of the human Pawn wherein the human Pawn may be moved up to two squares along the file, (b) human Kings and zombie Kings are allowed to be moved over or around other playing pieces one square in any direction, but cannot move to a square that is under attack by an opponent's playing piece, (c) the human Queen is allowed to move multiple squares in any un-blocked direction along said files, ranks or diagonals, (d) human Rooks are allowed to move multiple squares along ranks or files, (e) human Bishops are allowed to move multiple squares along diagonals while remaining on the same color squares as it started the game on, (f) human Knights are allowed to move two squares to a square of the opposite color and then one square at a right angle over or around any piece in its path, (i) zombie Pawns are allowed to move one square along the file, (j) the zombie Queen is allowed to move one square in any direction, (k) zombie Rooks are allowed to move one square along ranks or files, (l) zombie Bishops are allowed to move one square along diagonals while remaining on the same color squares as it started on the game on, (m) when a human piece captures a zombie piece, said zombie piece is removed from the board, (n) when a zombie piece captures a human piece, said human piece is replace with a zombie Pawn and the zombie piece remains on the square it occupied prior to overtaking said human piece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying figures, in which like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally-similar elements throughout the separate views and which are incorporated in and form a part of the specification, further illustrate the embodiments and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a game board and initial positions of playing pieces for use with the disclosed method of playing a modified chess game, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a device on which the method of playing a modified chess game may be implemented, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of a system on which the method of playing a modified game of chess may be implemented, in accordance with the disclosed embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown. The embodiments disclosed herein can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Unnecessary detail of known functions and operations may be omitted from the current description so as not to obscure the present invention. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a game board 10 and initial positions of playing pieces for use with the disclosed method of playing a modified chess game. The vertical columns on the board that run from one player to the other are referred to as files 12. The horizontal rows are known as ranks 14 and the diagonal lines across the game are referred to as diagonals 16. Files 12 and ranks 14 are made up of squares of alternating colors or hues, while diagonals 16 are made up of squares of the same color or hue. Two sets of playing pieces are provided. The sets may be distinguishable from one another in color and/or appearance. For purposes of illustration, the light colored pieces correspond to human pieces and are set up on the first rank from left to right as follows: Rook 18, Knight 20, Bishop 22, Queen 24, King 26, Bishop 22, Knight 20, and Rook 18. The human Pawns 28 are then set up on the second rank, directly in front of the aforementioned pieces. Additional human Queens may be provided. The dark color playing pieces correspond to zombie pieces and are set up exactly as the human playing pieces. Additional zombie Pawns 40, beyond the initial eight placed on the board, are provided to allow for replacement of human Pawns upon “infection” by a zombie (i.e., being captured by a zombie piece). At least twenty three zombie Pawns 40 may be provided. Multiple zombie Queens 38, Knights 32, Rooks 30, and Bishops 34 may also be provided, along with multiple human Queens 24, Knights 20, Rooks 18, Bishops 22, and Pawns 28. In one embodiment, at least two zombie Queens 38 and at least two human Queens 24 are provided, along with at least two zombie Bishops 34, at least three zombie Knights 32, at least three zombie Rooks 30, at least two human Bishops 22, at least three human Knights 20, and at least three human Rooks 18, Zombie pieces and human pieces may be moved in accordance with piece-specific movements as described below.

Regarding the movement of the human pieces, with the exception of the Knights, all human pieces may be moved in a straight path. The human King 26 may be moved one square in any direction, but may not be moved to a square that is under attack by an opponent's playing piece (a square in which an opponent's playing piece may move). The human Queen 24 may be moved as far as desired in any un-blocked direction. This includes movement in a horizontal/vertical direction along a rank or file or a diagonal direction along a diagonal. The human Rooks 18 may be moved as far as desired along a rank or file. The human Bishops 22 may move as far as desired along a diagonal, while remaining on the same color squares as it started the game on. The human Knights 20 may be moved a distance of two squares to a square of the opposite color and then one square at a right angle. The human Knights 20 may move over or around any piece in its path.

Regarding movement of the zombie pieces, with the exception of the zombie Knights 32, all pieces may be moved in a straight path. The zombie Knights 32 move the same as a human Knights 20. The zombie King 36 may be moved one square in any direction, but may not be moved to a square that is attacked by an opponent's playing piece (a square in which an opponent's playing piece may move). The zombie Queen 38 may be moved only one square in any direction. This includes movement along any of a rank, file or diagonal. If a zombie Queen 38 reaches the last rank on the opposite side of the game board it is then allowed to move as either a zombie or human Queen for the remainder of the game. The zombie Rooks 30 may be moved forward one or two squares along a rank or file, but are limited to moving only one square if retreating (i.e., moving backwards). The zombie Bishops 34 may be moved forward one or two squares along a diagonal, but are limited to moving only one square if retreating. The zombie Bishops 34 also remain on the same color square as it started the game on. If a zombie Rook 30 or zombie Bishop 34 captures any human piece two squares away, the zombie Rook 30 or Bishop 34 may be placed on a square adjacent to the human piece and the human piece replaced with a zombie Pawn 40.

Regarding pawn movement, the first human Pawn 28 to be moved may be moved straight along the file towards the opposite side of the board either one or two squares into a vacant square. After this first move, all other movement of the human Pawns 40 is limited to one square at a time. Zombie Pawns 40 may move ahead only one square at a time. Unlike the other playing pieces, both zombie and human Pawns may only capture an opponent's piece when moving forward diagonally one square. When a human Pawn 28 is moved to the last rank of the opposing side of the board it may be converted to any other human playing piece, except King. There is no limit to the number of Pawns that can be converted in a game. Because the strongest piece is the Queen, it is possible to have several Queens in play at the same time. When a zombie Pawn 40 reaches the last rank of the opposing side of the board, it cannot be converted, moved, captured, or taken by a human piece after that point with the exception of when zombie Pawns 40 occupy all eight squares of the last rank. When all eight squares of the opposing side's last rank are occupied by zombie Pawns 40, all of the occupying zombie Pawns 40 are converted to zombie Queens 38 and may be moved as a zombie Queen or as a human Queen, as described above. In addition, when a zombie Pawn 40 reaches the last rank, the horizontal and vertical, but not diagonal, squares immediately adjacent to that occupied by the zombie Pawn 40 are rendered incapable of being occupied by any human piece for the remainder of the game and if any human piece is occupying one of these squares at the time that a zombie Pawn 40 reaches an adjacent square in the last rank, the human piece is converted to a zombie Pawn 40.

In a further departure from traditional chess, when a human piece captures a zombie piece, the zombie piece is “killed” and is removed from the board. When a zombie piece captures a human piece, the human piece is “infected” and converted to a zombie Pawn 40 by replacing the human piece with a zombie Pawn 40 from the additional pieces provided. The zombie piece that attacked the human piece remains on the square it was in prior to the attack. A newly placed zombie Pawn 40 may be moved according to the rules for zombie Pawns.

A special move, known as “castling” in traditional chess, is permitted which allows a player to move two pieces at the same time. The zombie/human King 36/26 and their corresponding zombie/human Rooks 30/18 are the only pieces that are allowed to Castle. The King may be moved two squares to the left or right and the Rook on that side moves directly to the square next to the King on the opposite side. At least two squares between the King and the Rook must be vacant at the time of the move. The following are situations where castling is not permitted: the King has been moved earlier in the game, the Rook that castles has been moved earlier in the game, there are playing pieces between the King and Rook, the King is in check, the King moves through a square that is attacked by an opponent's playing piece, or the King would be in check after castling.

Apart from the rules as described above, all other rules and laws of traditional chess as described in the FIDE Laws of Chess apply to the embodiments of modified game of chess disclosed herein.

The method of playing a modified chess game, as described above, may be embodied in a computer program product. Such a computer program product as taught herein can be stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium such as a hard disk, an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD disk), a flash memory stick, or the like. The computer program can also be downloaded from a remote server for play on the user's computing device. So stored, the computer program product includes computer program code that may be executed by a processor associated with a computing device. FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of such a computing device 30, which may be a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a portable digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, game console or the like. The program code may execute entirely on a user's computing device, partly on the user's computing device, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computing device and partly on a remote computing device or entirely on the remote computing device, as will be described in more detail below.

FIG. 2 illustrates a device on which the method of playing a modified chess game described above may be implemented. The device 30 includes a user interface 32, a processor 34, memory 36, and/or external interface 38. The computer program product may be stored on memory 36 or some other non-transitory medium readable by the processor 34. When the computer program code is accessed and executed by the processor 34, the code causes the device 30 to implement a modified chess game between at least two players. One of these players may be a remote player that plays against the user of the device 30 via a remote communications interface (not shown). In another embodiment, one of the players is a computerized opponent configured to play against the user of the device 30.

The code may be further configured to cause the device 30 to execute a method for playing the modified chess game. The code causes the device 30 to display a virtual chess game board and virtual playing pieces upon a Graphical User Interface 32. The code also causes the device 30 to accept input from the players regarding piece movement and execute movement of the virtual pieces. The code also causes the device to determine the legitimacy of a selected move of a piece against the corresponding rules of play for that particular piece as described above. In the event that a selected move is determined to violate the rules of play, the code may cause a notification of such violation to be displayed and the selected move is not executed, thus retaining the pre-move configuration of the playing pieces. Finally, the code causes the device, responsive to input from a player, to determine whether the player's selected move results in one or more check or check mate scenarios in accordance with the rules as described herein, whereupon a notification may be displayed indicating that such scenario has occurred.

In an alternative scenario, and as depicted in FIG. 3, a remote computing device 42 may be connected to a user's computing device 30 through data network 40 providing access to data networks such as a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), wireless data network e.g., WiFi, Wimax, 802.xx, and cellular network or the connection may be made to an external computer via most third party supported networks (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). The remote computing device 42 can also be connected to a server 44 hosted by a gaming service that automates plays (computer generated plays) with the user over a data network 40. The remote computing device 42 can be a second user connected to the user's computing device 30 over a data network. The server 44 can host multiple users in games against each other and keep score in order to rank winners against losers. A subscription fee can be charged for users of the service and access to the service server. The server 44 can also provide software downloads necessary to play the game, either with the server 44 (automated play) or with other users.

It will be appreciated that variations of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also, that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims. 

1. A non-transitory processor readable medium including instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess comprising: configuring a chess board comprising files, ranks, and diagonals, wherein files and ranks are comprised of squares of alternating colors or hues, while diagonals are comprised of squares of the same color or hue; configuring two sets of playing pieces, wherein said sets are distinguishable from one another in appearance, wherein a first set of playing pieces, representing human pieces, are initially set up on a first rank of the chess board from left to right as Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, and Rook, and human Pawns are set up on the second rank, and a second set of corresponding playing pieces, representing zombie pieces, are set up on the board opposite the human pieces in identical order on opposite first and a second ranks; executing said game of modified chess by making a sequence of allowable moves satisfying rules of play, wherein said rules of play are defined as follows: (a) human Pawns are allowed to be moved one square along a file, unless the square is occupied by another playing piece, with the exception of the first move of the human Pawn wherein the human Pawn may be moved up to two squares along the file; (b) human Kings and zombie Kings are allowed to be moved over or around other playing pieces one square in any direction, but cannot move to a square that is under attack by an opponent's playing piece; (c) the human Queen is allowed to move multiple squares in any un-blocked direction along said files, ranks or diagonals; (d) human Rooks are allowed to move multiple squares along ranks or files; (e) human Bishops are allowed to move multiple squares along diagonals while remaining on the same color squares as it started the game on; (f) human Knights are allowed to move two squares to a square of the opposite color and then one square at a right angle over or around any piece in its path; (i) zombie Pawns are allowed to move one square along the file; (j) the zombie Queen is allowed to move one square in any direction; (k) the zombie Rook is allowed to move one square along ranks or files; (l) the zombie Bishop is allowed to move one square along diagonals while remaining on the same color squares as it started the game on; (m) when a human piece captures a zombie piece, said zombie piece is removed from the board; and (n) when a zombie piece captures a human piece, said human piece is replaced with a zombie Pawn and the zombie piece remains in the square it occupied prior to overtaking said human piece.
 2. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 1 further comprising rule (o) defined as follows: zombie and human Pawns are only allowed to capture an opponent's piece when moving forward diagonally one square at a time.
 3. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 1 further comprising rule (p) defined as follows: when a human Pawn is moved to the last rank of the opposing side of the board, it may be converted to any other human playing piece, except a human King
 4. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 1 further comprising rule (q) defined as follows: when a zombie Pawn reaches the last rank of the opposing side of the board, it cannot be converted, moved, captured, or taken after that point with the exception of when zombie Pawns occupy all eight squares of the last rank at which point all of the occupying zombie Pawns are converted to zombie Queens and are allowed to move as a zombie Queen.
 5. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 1 further comprising rule (r) defined as follows: when a zombie Pawn is moved into the last rank on the opposite side of the chess board, the rank and file squares immediately adjacent to that occupied by the zombie Pawn are rendered incapable of being occupied by any human piece and if any human piece is occupying one of said adjacent squares at the time that a zombie Pawn reaches an adjacent square in the last rank, the human piece is replaced by a zombie Pawn.
 6. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 1 further comprising rule (s) defined as follows: the human and zombie Kings and Rooks are allowed to Castle.
 7. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 1 wherein said instructions are configured to allow a first user to play said modified game of chess against a second user, wherein said first user controls movement of the human pieces and said second user controls movement of said zombie pieces.
 8. The non-transitory processor readable medium includes instructions to enable a computer to execute a method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 7 wherein one of said first or second user comprises a computing device.
 9. A method of playing a modified game of chess comprising the steps of: providing a chess board comprising files, ranks, and diagonals, wherein files and ranks are comprised of squares of alternating colors or hues, while diagonals are comprised of squares of the same color or hue; providing a first and second set of playing pieces, wherein said sets are distinguishable from one another in appearance and wherein said first set of playing pieces represent human pieces and said second set represent zombie pieces; positioning said human pieces on a first rank of the board from left to right as Rook, Knight, Bishop, Queen, King, Bishop, Knight, and Rook, and a plurality of human Pawns on the second rank, next in from the edge of the board to the first rank; positioning said zombie pieces on the board opposite the human pieces in identical order on opposite first and a second ranks; formatting rules for movement of said human and zombie pieces as follows: (a) human Pawns are allowed to be moved one square, unless the square is occupied by another playing piece, with the exception of the first move of the human Pawn wherein the human Pawn may be moved up to two squares along the file; (b) human Knights and the zombie Knights are allowed to be moved over or around other playing pieces one square in any direction, but cannot move to a square that is under attack by an opponent's playing piece; (c) the human Queen is allowed to move multiple squares in any un-blocked direction along said files, ranks or diagonals; (d) human Rooks are allowed to move multiple squares along ranks or files; (e) human Bishops are allowed to move multiple squares along diagonals while remaining on the same color squares as it started the game on; (f) human and zombie Knights are allowed to move two squares to a square of the opposite color and then one square at a right angle over or around any piece in its path; (h) the human King and zombie King are allowed to move one square in any direction, but may not be moved to a square that is attacked by an opponent's playing piece; (i) zombie Pawns are allowed to move one square along the file; (j) the zombie Queen is allowed to move one square in any direction; (k) zombie Rooks are allowed to move one square along ranks or files; (l) zombie Bishops are allowed to move one square along diagonals while remaining on the same color squares as it started the game on; (m) when a human piece captures a zombie piece, said zombie piece is removed from the board; and (n) when a zombie piece captures a human piece, said human piece is replaced with a zombie Pawn and the zombie piece remains in the square it occupied prior to overtaking said human piece.
 10. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 further comprising formatting said rules for movement of said human and zombie pieces to include rule (o) defined as follows: zombie and human Pawns are only allowed to capture an opponent's piece when moving forward diagonally one square at a time.
 11. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 further comprising formatting said rules for movement of said human and zombie pieces to include rule (p) defined as follows: when a human Pawn is moved to the last rank of the opposing side of the board, it may be converted to any other human playing piece, except a human King
 12. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 further comprising formatting said rules for movement of said human and zombie pieces to include rule (q) defined as follows: when a zombie Pawn reaches the last rank of the opposing side of the board, it cannot be converted, moved, captured, or taken after that point with the exception of when zombie Pawns occupy all eight squares of the last rank at which point all of the occupying zombie Pawns are converted to zombie Queens and are allowed to move as a zombie Queen.
 13. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 further comprising formatting said rules for movement of said human and zombie pieces to include rule (r) defined as follows; when a zombie Pawn is moved into the last rank on the opposite side of the chess board, the rank and file squares immediately adjacent to that occupied by the zombie Pawn are rendered incapable of being occupied by any human piece and if any human piece is occupying one of said adjacent squares at the time that a zombie Pawn reaches an adjacent square in the last rank, the human piece is replaced by a zombie Pawn.
 14. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 further comprising formatting said rules for movement of said human and zombie pieces to include rule (s) defined as follows: the human and zombie Kings and Rooks are allowed to Castle.
 15. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 wherein at least twenty three zombie Pawns are provided.
 16. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 wherein at least two zombie Queens, at least two zombie Bishops, at least three zombie Knights, and at least three zombie Rooks are provided.
 17. The method of playing a modified game of chess of claim 9 wherein at least two human Queens, at least two human Bishops, at least three human Knights, and at least three human Rooks are provided. 